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I wanted to spur a little debate when it comes to todays treatments for anxiety. Many online anxiety and panic attack ‘gurus’ have made quite a living by selling certain techniques that make us believe will lead to an instant cure for anxiety and panic attacks. But they’re not the only ones, many therapists for anxiety/panic disorder today are more then happy to jump on the techniques and trickery bandwagon as well.

I have no problem with techniques to deal with anxiety and panic attacks, but what happens when they stop working or don’t work at all?

The problem I see when so called ‘experts’ hand out these miracle anxiety curing techniques, is that they mask a problem that doesn’t neccessarily take care of the main issue. Take for instance panic attacks, when someone comes to me for coaching advice on dealing with panic attacks I know exactly what that person is dealing with.

“Within 5 minutes of speaking with the panic attack sufferer, I know how deep their pain truly goes”

At this point there are two things I can do:

Now there’s the road you want to be on.

1) Sit down with that person suffering from panic attacks, and give them certain techniques and coping scenarios that will lead to a windy road that takes them around the problem, sometimes.

2) Show them a set strategy that tackles the thought process and actions that leads to full blown panic attacks. Thus moving them through and with their fears in a systematic and guided fashion that builds confidence in the face of their fears.

Do you see the difference?

This is why i’m not a big fan of these itty bitty techniques that only help people cope with anxiety and panic attacks. I believe that in order to turn a monster into a fly, you have to show that monster that you won’t be pushed around by his intimidating ways.

But can a technique be implemented into a strategy to overcome anxiety and panic attacks?

I guess, but it shouldn’t be the end all be all when it comes to the way you handle your anxious conditioning. So here’s my humble advice if you are one of those sufferers searching frantically online for a solution to your bewildering state:

If someone’s idea of treating your anxiety falls solely into the category of techniques and tricks to help you cope, stand up and walk out the door. Find someone who’s been in your anxious shoes, and ask for some concrete and proven advice that leads to a strategy for handling your anxiety and panic attacks naturally.

If you were an expert on the subject of anxiety would you be more on the side of techniques, strategies or a little bit of both? Share your insights in the comments section below.

On this day I want to take a closer look at a four-letter word, a word that has a tremendous effect on the way people live their lives and the choices they make from day to day, that word is fear. Take a look deep inside of you… have you ever gave up on a dream you had for your future due to the fear of the unknown? Instead you opted to take the safer route rather then the right choice? What were you afraid of? Were you afraid of what people might say? What they might think? Did you instead try something that was easier? I remember a song that has stuck with me throughout the years, and the title of that song was ‘you could be waiting for a day that won’t come,’ are you waiting for society to approve of something before you actually take action and do it? Do yourself a huge favor, stop now. There will always be people that look down on you and disapprove of your smallest goals to your biggest dreams, begin to accept this.

Don’t let their fear affect you today, start today to enjoy your own unique talents, your skills, your gifts. I’ve known countless people who have had the most love from family and friends, been to the best schools, ate the best meals etc and have ended up in rehab, it’s not how you begin your journey, it’s how you end your journey. What the mind can conceive, it can achieve… carry that message with you today. The mind is an incredible thing, it looks for excuses not to do something, not to follow through with something, on some days it may seem like a tug of war battle just to get the simplest things done. But during that tug of war battle something interesting happens, you begin to grow stronger and stronger, and the more you resist the excuses that your mind feeds you the more powerful you become. Soon enough things begin to get easier and easier, you may start rubbing off on others and become an inspiration for them, isn’t that really why we’re here? To help others? To lift each other to new heights during this short time we’re alive?

In a marathon, everyone starts even, the same skill sets, the same endurance etc, but during that race it’s the person who refuses to accept defeat that wins the race, plain and simple. Haven’t you heard that term ‘he got his second wind’ before? That second wind was created by emotion, the idea that if he quits that race while he was behind, he would have to live with that feeling forever. All that training, all that sacrifice would weigh heavy on him for good. Are you living with something that’s weighing you down? Is there something you need to start doing today that will release you of that burden once and for all? I challenge you to confront it, to experience it and to overcome it. Don’t let fear dictate how you live your life today, I challenge you to look fear in the eye and defy it wether that fear could be a fear of losing time in order to create something great, or a fear of what might be if you fail, it doesn’t matter. Create a new meaning today of what fear really is, today fear is energy and when you begin to feel a sense of fear you automatically use that as a cue to get your butt moving in its direction… not to run away, not to fight against it, but to move through it and to allow it to be present as you do.

Do you know what your fear hates? It hates anger, when you’re angry with your fear it defies it, a good example of this is when I go out to play my tennis match, listen we athletes all have a fear of losing. All that work we put in day in and day out, what a shame it would be if I lost to someone lesser then me. But i’ll tell you something, when I begin to think of my opponent as someone who is getting in my way of me hoisting a trophy then I get mad, I start to think of him as an enemy and once that happens, fear loses its power and my focus turns to what I need to do in order to reach my goal. Change the meaning of fear today, and you’re on your way to creating the key to success… and that is momentum!

Follow the anxious athlete as we overcome everything related to mental health, and bring inspiration to others everyday.